ENFIELD — For owners Ron and Lauren Urena of Enfield Produce & Deli, it is all about family and the community.
To give back to customers who have helped make their new venture a success, the couple hosted a third anniversary celebration on Aug. 3. The event featured $5 meatball grinders, a pop-up shop from Amy Cakes Baked Goods with her delicious homemade cupcakes, a visit from the 2 Food Dudes selling their custom spice blends, free samples and a kickoff for a school supply drive for the Enfield Public Schools.
“We had 63 people sign up on Facebook to attend, but we ended up with many more participating in the celebration,” said Ron Urena.
Owning a food shop comes naturally to Urena, who grew up in his father’s grocery store in Worcester, Massachusetts.
“I wanted to keep doing something similar to our family’s store after my father retired in 2010. I felt our family was much closer working together in that little store and getting involved in the community. I felt I had a purpose in life and owning my own store was always a dream of mine,” Urena said.
Then several years ago fate stepped in along with a little encouragement and push from his wife to follow his dream.
“Lauren asked me to stop at Enfield Produce, where she had shopped since being a little girl, to pick up a few things on the way home. I struck up a conversation with the owner who told me he was ready to retire and sell the store. When I got into the car, I called Lauren and said, ‘We are going to buy your favorite store,’” Urena recalled.
After purchasing the store, the couple changed its name from Enfield Produce to Enfield Produce & Deli.
“The biggest change we made was to add a deli to the store. Originally, we thought it would help to supplement the produce side of the business, but it was such a success that a year ago we decided to make it even bigger,” Urena said, who noted future plans are to further expand their deli’s offerings which began with a sausage and pepper grinder made with local sausage.
On the produce side, the Urenas also like to go local when they can by purchasing from area farms including so far during this year’s growing season fruits and vegetables such as golden plums, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, corn, blueberries, green bean, yellow squash and cantaloupe.
In addition to selling all kinds of deli meat and cheese and sides such as chicken, pasta and macaroni salads, customers can stop in and pick up breakfast items to go such as a bagel or muffin. For a quick bite for lunch or supper the menu includes tasty sandwiches or paninis, or a healthy salad or soup.
Sweet tooths can indulge in a slice of tres leches cake, a popular Latin American favorite, or a variety of cupcakes. Party platters, including bruschetta, salad and sandwich platters for all occasions are also a popular part of their business. Orders for pick up can be placed online ahead of time.
“We weren’t affected by the recent deli meat recall because we do not carry Boars Head products, but the finest Napoli sliced meats,” Urena said.
Another change was to introduce more international grocery items into the mix, noted Urena, who hails from the Dominican Republic.
“The man who owned the shop before us was Turkish, so he sold a number of Turkish items. We wanted to expand our offerings to be more representative of the many different cultures in Enfield from Hispanic to Mexican and from Polish to Italian and others. We are selling products from Goya, Napoli, Refrescos Country Club Sodas from the Dominican, and many additional product lines,” Urena shared, noting customers often had to drive to Hartford or Springfield to purchase their specialty products.
“We also began in July to make fresh pan sobao every morning, which is a sweet Puerto Rican bread,” he added.
Urena noted the third biggest change to the store was their effort to help beautify the community with the addition of a mural painted on the 85-foot wall of the Montano Road side of their building.
“We fundraised to support the project which was created by Enfield artist Chris Gann. We held a Community Paint Day on Oct. 8 last year, when about 150 people showed up to help in a paint by numbers fashion that Chris established for the mural, which he then cleaned up and put the finishing touches on,” Urena said about the mural which features produce in the forefront against a landscape of popular Enfield landmarks.
“It also features our two children, Marco, 3, and Javi, 2, and a little girl by the name of Brittney, who died of cancer at the age of 5. Brittney used to come into our store and play in the kids’ area we created to keep children busy while their parents shopped. And we wanted to establish a memorial for her by adding Brittney to the mural,” he added.
With the emphasis the Urenas place on family, they don’t forget their young customers with mini shopping carts for their tiniest shoppers.
“We also want to encourage youngsters to eat healthy, so we created a special VIP card that entitles them to one free fruit with every purchase. So, they can go grab an apple, banana, orange, pear, plum, nectarine or kiwi, depending on what is in stock at the time,” Urena said.
Family and community is everywhere you look at Enfield Produce & Deli. Urena’s mom and dad, Nano and Rosa, help out in the store, and every employee is considered as family, just as everyone coming through their door, noted Urena.
“Since we added the mural and involved everyone in our Community Paint Day, we feel more like part of the community than ever. We feel a personal responsibility to the community and to help where we can when a family suffers a tragedy or the community is in need of something,” Urena said.
The Urenas’ mission as stated on the store’s website is “to be involved and give back to the Enfield community.” True to their words, they have participated in community events such as Enfield on the Green, Family Day, Heritage Fair, many charity 5ks, and their own annual Spread the Love Food Drive to benefit the Enfield Food Shelf.
Enfield Produce & Deli is at 565 Enfield St. Hours are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
To learn more about the store, visit enfieldproduceanddeli.com or their Facebook page, or call 860-698-1588.
